le 22 mars

Y'alright? That's what the Brits say instead of "How are you?" or "What's up?" I never quite knew what to say in return but apparently you should just say "alright!" And that isn't the only thing they say differently, it really is a completely new vocabulary, I had to really concentrate when listening to people speak this past weekend while I was in NORWICH and LONDON!

I left Toulouse on Wednesday night and flew to London where I met Megan. It is so wonderful having friends all over the place. My flight got in so late Wednesday night that there were not any more trains to Norwich so I was able to spend the night with Megan. We went to this frozen yogurt shop, much like Red Mango or Fraiche back home. It was called Snog which I thought was really silly. Megan and I spent a good part of the night/early morning catching up and enjoying our yogurt.

After waking up early Thursday morning Megan and I hopped on the bus. I got quite the tour of London as we made our way to Trafaglar Square where Megan's internship is. We grabbed a little breakfast before she headed to work and I got back on the bus headed toward Liverpool Street Station. My train left London at 10 am and I was on my way to Norwich, a much overdue trip! I arrived in Norwich at noon to see my friend Emma waiting for me at the train station. We took the bus from the station to campus and I was so surprised to see just how big Norwich actually is. I always pictured it as this small, sleepy village in the English countryside but quite the contrary it was a city!

After arriving on campus I walked back to Emma's "flat" and talked with her until Sara came and picked me up. Sara and I spent the entire afternoon catching up, it was so good seeing her. I had not gone more than a few weeks without seeing Sara since freshman year of high school so it has been weird for me these past few months seeing so little of her! That night, we cooked dinner for a bunch of friends. There are so many great people from Dickinson studying in Norwich right now, I wish I had been able to spend more time there!


We spent Friday walking around campus and downtown Norwich. There are some great shops downtown as well as many delicious looking restaurants. While in Norwich I got a chocolate chip cookie which tasted sooo good! They don't have normal cookies here in France, they're very different than in the US so I had been craving a chocolate chip cookie, I was very content with my purchase.

After a busy day of walking around, Sara and I returned to her flat, packed up our stuff, and took off for London. For the first 5 weeks of Sara's study abroad program, she lived in London so she knew the city like the back of her hand. We even got to stay in the same hotel as she did while she was living there with Dickinson!

The whole reason we went to London in the first place was because....LAURA FLEW IN SATURDAY MORNING!!! Sara and I took the tube to the Heathrow Airport Saturday morning where we found one of our best friends waiting for us. We all hopped on the tube to head back downtown, so excited to be reunited. On our way back, I stopped at the Knightsbridge tube stop to meet my aunt and cousin while Sara and Laura continued on to our hotel. I had planned to meet Janet and Emily inside of Harrods at 9:30. It was very easy to find coming out of the tube but when I looked at the doors, it said Harrods didn't open until 10. Because I was a few minutes early I decided to walk around the store. Well it turns out that the store took up an entire street block, it was HUGE!

I walked in one very large circle before coming back to the same spot I had started and running into Janet and Em. I was so happy to see my family, how cool is that?! We both just happened to be in London at the same time so we met up for breakfast in Harrods, I was so excited! We picked spots at the counter of the Gelato bar and enjoyed croissants and mochas while we caught up. My cousin Eric is studing in Budapest right now so my cousins family went to visit him during their spring break and spent half the week in London visiting friends. It sounds like they had quite the trip!


After breakfast, we wandered all around the store. You could easily spend an entire day in Harrods, not to mention a few thousand pounds too. We made sure to see the food hall, bridal section and Princess Diana memorial. The hour and a half whizzed by. I then walked past Buckingham Palace and saw/heard the changing of the guards without even planning it on my way to meet Sara and Laura! We met at Big Ben and then walked along the Thames, taking pictures along the way. London is a great city to walk around, there is so much to see.


After a while, Sara took us to her favorite cupcake shop where we each bought a delicious treat before heading to Leicester Square to buy discount show tickets. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in Regent Park and shopping in Camden town. We couldn't resist having dinner at an English pub where I got Shepherds Pie. Dinner was followed by the show "Sunset Boulevard," one I had never heard of but was surprisingly good. The actors and music were incredible. I am more into the Mamma Mia/Hairspray kind of shows with upbeat music, fun costumes, and lots of dancing. This one was a little darker but still great nonetheless.

By the end of the day we were exhausted! My feet hurt so badly, London is a huge city and it didn't help that a bunch of the tube lines were closed so walking was necessary. I had a blast though, I didn't want the weekend to end! I flew back to Toulouse early this morning and have spent the rest of the day resting and doing work. On Wednesday, Sara and Laura are flying down to Toulouse from Norwich so really, the fun has just begun!